Once deployed in the vicinity of the Moon, CU-E3 will use a lunar gravity assist to propel itself into heliocentric orbit, trailing the Earth and slowly distancing itself over time.[2] By the end of its one-year mission, CU-E3 is planned to be as far as 27 million kilometers from Earth.[2] The spacecraft will use a commercial 6U CubeSat satellite body (bus) called XB1, measuring about 10×20×30 cm. The mass is about 14 kg (31 lb).[5] Electric power will be provided by solar panels and stored in rechargeable lithium batteries.

Communications

The mission is focused upon advancing deep space CubeSat communication techniques using an innovative reflective array antenna, an X band transmitter for downlink and a C band transmitter for uplink.[1][2][4] The antenna array is "planar", meaning all of the elements are in one plane, yet provide a large aperture for beam steering and make possible high data rates.[4] ATLAS Ground Networks will be the ground station for their uplink and downlink communications.[4] Their telecomm package is called High-Rate CubeSat Communication System (HRCCS).[1]